I never thought I’d write again. Many things to share. But first I want to offer a heartfelt thank you to Rick Buker, Phil Krundle and of course Other Rick, whom I affectionately nicknamed “Coach” many years ago for his vast knowledge of the game. You gentlemen inspired me to be able to do some difficult things in battling my illnesses these past three years. Words cannot express my gratitude. Now with the blessing of the good Lord, I will attempt to write that final article that I promised you all so long ago.
A view from afar… to the new readers of this wonderful site, I want to say that I’m not from Pittsburgh…nor even the United States. My home is in Atlantic Canada, Nova Scotia to be precise, yet I still bleed black and gold as you all do. Fans forever. I envy all of you that you can see my Penguins play live. You are all so lucky.
I was born and raised in a country where at one time hockey was more than a sport…it was a proud way of life. So, my perspective sometimes may seem a little different. That’s why the affection for Sidney Crosby…he works in Pittsburgh but he lives in Atlantic Canada. We are all very proud of what he has become. A national treasure!
But I digress. For the past two years the Pens were not the team of choice to be shown on Canadian TV. For over a decade the “update” game (the second game the media covered along with the main event) was almost always Crosby and the Penguins. Since the Pens have faltered in the playoffs over the past few seasons, interest in watching them nationally has waned.
I think a lot of that is driven by the advertisers. The CBC bends to their pressure. As I’ve often said, when you watch a hockey game at the NHL level you’re really witnessing two games at once. The one on the ice and the one being played out in the back rooms and away from the rink. In my opinion that’s where you need to win to be successful.
I’ll get to the point. We have no cap space to work with. Our farm system is talent poor compared with the top 20 teams in the league. Some experts have ranked us dead last. We have no draft picks to get elite talent. That’s critical.
The game played off the ice. Are we winning??? Think about it…
But yes, Virginia there is a Santa Claus! It’s a new day!!!
There’s an old saying…“You need to be good to be lucky and you need to be lucky to be good.” No truer words were ever spoken.
Last month owners Mario Lemieux and Ron Burkle got really lucky. According to reports in Canada, the Pens were sold to Fenway Sports Group (FSG) for $875 to $900 million USD. This is great news for all concerned. Congratulations Mario and Ron…well deserved gentlemen! But the real winner in this sale is us, the fans.
Why?
Three reasons from my perspective.
First. Money. FSG is valued at over $7.5 billion and their assets include real estate. Real value. You can never have enough money when operating major league sports franchises. Plus, they are diversified. MLB, NASCAR, British Football League, and now the NHL.
I cannot stress enough how much better off we are with them as the majority owners.
Two. It isn’t working, folks. The last three years have been a failure. From my perspective we’re losing the off-ice battle, especially when compared to the competition. Many lesser franchises have now surpassed our team. Without new ownership in the back room, we would continue on the downward path. Fortunately, regardless how the media spins it, nobody spends $900 million on a losing team. FSG will indeed put their mark on their team some time in 2022. Change is good for everyone and as fans we’ll benefit from it. For the first time in a long while I’m excited about the future of the franchise!
Three. Long term, a youth movement is the only way to go. There’s been plenty of speculation recently about new contracts for pending UFAs Kris Letang, Evgeni Malkin and Bryan Rust or more to the point…the lack of. Now that Mario and Ron have their payday maybe now the much needed rebuild will start. This is good news for the franchise long term.
Indeed, it’s a new day in Pittsburgh and that’s great news for all of us my friends.
Thanks for reading! From my family to all of you, Merry Christmas and Season’s greetings to all! Cheers!
PS: Rick Buker (my twin brother) and I share the same birthday. We are exactly the same age. How many people can say that?
Hello Jim, and welcome back to the writing side!
Great job, my friend. We really are approaching a crossroads (or fork in the road if you prefer) and faster than anyone probably wants to admit. I confess, from a purely sentimental standpoint, I’d like to hang on to Malkin and Letang. But of course, I grew up in an era where stars played for the same team their entire career. Especially future Hall-of-Famers.
I’m probably in the minority, but I wouldn’t mind re-signing or extending Letang if we can get him at a fairly reasonable rate/term. I think he’s a unique talent and still has some mileage on him. IMHO, he’s played perhaps the best hockey of his career the last couple of seasons. More within himself…better decision making.
Not meant to knock him in any way, but I wouldn’t be as heart-broken if we parted ways with Malkin. In no way a reflection of his enormous contributions or ability. More because he’s been so injury prone. At this stage, you just don’t know what kind of season you’re going to get out of him, health-wise.
I think it’s pretty much a done deal that Geno will eventually wind up in Florida with countryman Aleksander Barkov. I notice the Panthers have slipped a bit recently. Maybe they’d be willing to part with Sam Bennett at the deadline to wrap up Geno’s services and boost their Cup chances.
Anyway, job well done, my friend! Merry Christmas back at ya’ and “cheers” as you like to say … 🙂
Rick
Thanks brother, for everything.
I know the feeling of nostalgia and sentiment . In a perfect world I wish all three players could remain in the Black and Gold. It would be a great ending to an amazing future Hall of Fame careers. But I honestly do not see it happening that way.
The business of hockey has become so expensive and Teams can no longer keep players that have large salaries when they approach 34,35 or 36 years of age and beyond. The injury risk alone is a serious concern for any team.
What players and the NHLPA should agree to do is to have a short term contract for ” Mature Players “…that recognizes as the body ages the risk of serious long term injury increases rapidly as well.Therefore the TEAM needs protection. No one wants a 33+ year player with 5 years left on his new 10 million dollar a year contract and the Team is then penalized when the player gets injured.
For example Letang has had a history of serious Head injuries. That is a serious issue. As you age and continue to put your body thru the rigors of Professional hockey, inevitably you will be injured. How does the team protect itself ?
My suggestion is a series of 1 year contracts that can be terminated by either party with out cause each year once a player reaches 35 years of age.. Something like that idea …But players will not go for it.
What are owners supposed to do Rick??
The other issue is that having several older players on a team actually stops younger players from entering the league.No one talks about that issue ..
Florida would be an interesting destination for Geno especially given their low Tax rates. As I said to Coach below i would try to sign Geno to a very short term contract with a very team friendly salary number.
Otherwise try to trade him to Florida if he would be willing….
What say you ?
Thanks for all your encouragement these past 3 years Rick…
All the best this holiday season…
Jim
keyboard is really sticking Sell off. Definitely re-read this time to make sure I got it
Hey Jim,
Great points! my friend. To your point about draft picks, that is why I am begging and praying for the team to stop deluding itself that it is a true contender and self at the dead line – we have no true top 6 forwards under 27; NONE! Our best hope is for Legare to get back on track.
I would love to find a way to get a top 10 pick and steal at least 1 or 2 more. Not only would I love to see Shane Wright in Black and Gold but 1 or 2 of the following; Simon Nemec (RD to replace Letang), Logan Cooley (C but already committed to the NCAA), Juraj Slafkovsky (LW and a big body), Conor Geekie (C and another big body), Ivan Miroshnichenko (LW big body but maybe another year away), and Isaac Howard (C).
Also Jim, have you had a chance to watch Tristan Luneau of the Gatineau Olympiques? I am not sure what intrigues me here yet, but I haven’t seen much of his play, but something keeps me looking st his blurbs. If you have seen him, what do you think?
Anyhow, welcome back to the other side of the curtain! We certainly missed your writing.
Sorry typo sell of not short hand self
Thank you my friend for those very kind words. It is indeed nice to be back considering the possible alternative. To answer your question regarding Tristan Luneau, I have not seen him play but now you mentioned his name I will go looking and report back.
Regarding this years 2022 draft, all indications are that it will be a deep one with emphasis coming from abroad. Sweden, Russia, Finland,Germany, Slovakia all have some great prospects combined with a deep US talent pool this year. Canada is always deep with Wright leading the way.
So the real question Coach is how do we go about to get a couple of top 10 picks this year and maybe a 20 something.( I have no grand illusions that the current PENS will be drafting 32 nd this year or any year soon.). My thoughts are there only 3 ways to accomplish this feat.
Hockey Trades, Future considerations, which is just the NHL way of saying ” How much money do you want?”, and the tried and true method, losing games.
So first of all I am not convinced we will make the play offs this year and that will get us 1 lottery chance in 2022. We will be close but still miss the mark.Maybe 14 th overall.
Secondly I would try and trade Letang, prospects Sam Poulin and some FUTURE CONSIDERATIONS to Ottawa for their First round pick in 2022. That should be a 4th or 5th in 2022. That will get you a Franchise player you can build on.
Then immediately I would go see the Sharks about Evander Kane and trade them Zucker for him and have them retain half his salary. I just picked up 2 million in cap space and we have a serious up grade over Zucker….
Finally in the Spring I would try to package some of our players to get another top 10 pick and I would definitely address the Geno situation one way or another. I would try to resign him on a short term ,team friendly contract.
Yes Coach, it is fun to play arm chair General manager from afar..But now the Pens have the money to make these deals if they really want to..
Your thoughts ????
Jim
Hey Jim,
I love playing arm chair GM. What do I do?
Well, despite the Penguins 7 game win streak against mostly fringe or cellar dweller teams (only the Caps have a contender record) I don’t see this team being a contender and there would be nothing they could trade for that would turn the tide of age. The window isn’t closing, it is closed. They would need serious Divine intervention.
I sell at the deadline with the only 2 players safe from being hocked, Crosby and Malkin since they have full blown no movement no trade clauses.
I would love to get Ottawa to bite on Letang. I would easily toss Poulin into the mix to get the deal done, or even flip our first round pick next with Letang for their first pick this year and maybe a prospect. I am not sure they bite on it though. Yes, I could see a sales approach – A solid veteran defenseman who could steady the blue line for Chabot to grow to get them back into the playoff mix. Although, I wouldn’t take Letang so I wouldn’t count on them taking the RHD.
Right now Van is down in that bottom 10, so I would target JR as a trade partner as well. He has a track record for over paying. I would see if I couldn’t deal with him. Zucker, would be my first choice to unload. He has been a David Perron here. I would try and end him back out West for his own sake as well as ours. If I couldn’t trade him to JR, I would next try to send Kapanen back to him and look for a different partner to send Zucker.
Unlike many here in the ‘burgh, I do like Kapanen, and would like to see him stay, but if I could get JR to give up a 1st round pick and maybe sweeten it with Podokolzn, I try and swindle him.
Rust is another player I actively shop. He is in a contract year and I am not willing to give him a big raise. I may be willing to bump him up to a $4 mil range but if he is asking for more than that, he too becomes expendable and I trade him before I lose him for nothing. I doubt I could get into the top 10 with him. There is only one JR in the league.
I could see gambling on a trade with the Sharks, hoping they drop down into the bottom 10 but I do not, repeat do not want Kane as part of any deal. It is very telling when your own teammates don’t want you back. Yes, he still is a talented player, but he isn’t worth the off-ice headache; that eventually spills over on to the ice.
Great insight Coach.That is what I enjoy about our exchanges my friend.
Point taken about Kane. Very smart idea of going after Jimmy in Vancouver. Maybe we get lucky. Get us a second First rounder pick .( Including keeping ours). I would not Count out Ottawa if there were enough future considerations.( They need a new rink Down town.) That cost money… you get the idea.
The elephant in the room is Arizona.They hold Montreal’s first round pick in 2022 and their own.
They could go 1 & 2 in this years draft…..But they too need Cash !!!!
Last month their Lease holder/Landlord gave them an eviction notice for not paying their Rent and their property Taxes. Coach for me, the real question is ” What is a # 1 or # 2 draft pick worth to a team? ” … Millions of dollars over the life of a 20 year career for the Wright player. haha (What was Sidney worth to the Pen’s ?? ).
If you can get your head around that issue then you quickly realize the Pen’s need that kind of draft this year.
If they are bold enough, they could do it …Let’s see what happens.
I think we will have this discussion several times between now and April.
All the best to you and your family OTR.
Jim